District 302 board approves technology upgrades

SUGAR GROVE – Kaneland School District 302 is poised for a technology upgrade that will include new laptops for teachers.

The Kaneland School District 302 board approved the upgrade Monday after a presentation from Technology Director Tim Wolf. He said recent accomplishments include 50 percent wireless Internet coverage throughout the district and the implementation of an iPad program at the elementary level. However, he pointed out that 600 of the district’s 2,134 computers that are at least 8 years old.

Those aging computers will be addressed in the technology improvement plan for the 2013-14 school year. The improvement plan includes $132,000 for infrastructure improvements for access points and controllers. A fiber build-out will cost $130,000, and network switches and redundant backup will cost $20,000.

Wolf said the technology department plans to work on cabling using existing wires at no additional cost.

The plan also includes buying laptop computers for teachers, which will allow the district to re-purpose teachers’ current computers for student use, replacing the district’s oldest computers. Wolf said the district will need 335 laptops for teachers.

“This is really exciting stuff for me,” Wolf said. “It’s been many years since we’ve been on a replacement cycle for computers.”

In addition to laptops, the technology department is planning to install 202 wireless internet access points throughout the district.

Board President Cheryl Krauspe said Monday that the board recognizes the need for a technology upgrade, which is why members made it a budget priority. The board unanimously approved the upgrades Monday.